ENE Memo: May 7, 2012

From the Head: 5/7

Class of 2012 – A Time for Celebration and Reflection

This coming weekend is commencement - a time for graduates and their families, friends and supporters to celebrate a major milestone in life. We will be marking this transition with a reception in the ARMS 1300 lobby at 4:30pm on this Friday, May 11. We have two groups of graduates in the ENE Class of 2012: those receiving a bachelor's degree in either Multidisciplinary Engineering or Interdisciplinary Engineering Studies and those receiving a PhD in Engineering Education. Due to a change in the commencement ceremonies this year, the MDE/IDE students will receive their diplomas on Friday evening (following the reception)/ and the PhDs will be hooded at the commencement on Sunday.

Sixteen are graduating in Multidisciplinary Engineering in the concentrations specified.

In the past year, there have been two graduates from the PhD program in Engineering Education: Dr. Katerina Bagiati in August 2011 and Dr. Michele Strutz this April.

To add to the festivities this week, on Monday (today) we will be recognizing the achievements of ENE staff and faculty, whose efforts helped many students across the entire Purdue engineering Class of 2012 to reach their academic goals. These include the 2012 winner of the McDowell Award for Advising (the winner will be announced at the event); the promotion of Matt Ohland to Full Professor and Ruth Streveler to Associate Professor with Tenure; the ENE Best Teacher Award, to Matt Ohland, who has also just been admitted as a Fellow to Purdue’s Teaching Academy; and the promotion of Dana Hartfiel from our business office, who has been promoted to Junior Systems & Report Accountant in Accounting Services.

This week also marks one year since the passing of the founding head of ENE, Kamyar Haghighi (May 9, 2011). So as we celebrate these various achievements let us also remember to thank all those who helped us along the way and those who went before and enabled us to be successful. Following the example set by the ENE graduate students earlier this year, please send a thank-you note to a mentor or former teacher who encouraged you or sparked your interest in engineering.

Congratulations one and all!

- David

News and Information: 5/7

Employee Assistance Program Services

The services of the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) at Purdue were presented at the Dean's Leadership Team meeting last week. I strongly recommend that all faculty and staff, but especially supervisors including faculty advisors, become familiar with these services and make effective use of them. During the summer and early fall a representative of EAP will be invited to meet with ENE supervisors and faculty to give a presentation on the EAP services.

WorkLife Programs Employee Assistance can help with the following issues:

Marriage or adult relationships

Parent-child relationships

Stress (work-related, anxiety, self-esteem issues)

Depression

Problem drinking and drug abuse

Elder caregiving

Adjustment following divorce

Anxiety and panic disorders

Child behavior problems

Single parenting concerns

Other personal problems that affect work-life

Grief and loss issues

When you visit WorkLife Programs Employee Assistance, you will meet with an Employee Assistance professional for an initial assessment to discuss the problem you are facing and to develop options for addressing it. Based upon your initial assessment, the Employee Assistance professional will help you determine the best way to address your problem. This may include up to eight visits with the Employee Assistance professional, or you may be referred to another local agency or resource.

Employees are entitled to go to the first appointment in paid status. All other appointments are to be taken as either sick leave or vacation. To make an appointment, call 49-47707 or stop by our office at the State Street Office Facility (SSOF), 1601 W. State St., 8 a.m.-noon or 1-5 p.m.

Kudos: 5/7

...to Matt Ohland on being chosen to serve as a Fellow of Purdue's Teaching Academy, which strives to bring together the best teaching faculty across campus to create a collective voice for teaching and learning at Purdue. Matt will be recognized at the Academy's induction ceremony, to be held this fall.

...to Emily Zhu, whose paper "Facilitating Graduate Students' Professional Development: Implementation and Evaluation of Learning Activities" has been selected as the Best Student Paper in the ASEE Graduate Studies Division.